INNOVATION IN SERVICE QUALITY MEASUREMENT: A CASE OF NIGERIAN HEALTHCARE SECTOR.

This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the issue of service quality measurement. The main purpose of the research is to bring innovation in the operationalization conceptualization of service quality dimensions to suit the Nigerian healthcare environment. Empirical studies and extant literature show intentions from the classical five-level SERVQUAL-model. The systematization of literary sources and approaches to solving the problems of service quality measurement show a significant deviation from the pioneer five-construct SERVQUAL model. The relevance of solving this scientific problem is to bring novelty to the existing models to suit the differing service environment. The problem considered in the article was solved by developing a new construct that forms part of the service quality dimension. The study empirically confirms the use of six-construct SERVQUAL model that is structured to measure service quality in the Nigerian healthcare sector. In the first part of the article, the conceptual overview of service quality and its dimensions were analysed with a critical review of recent and previous research on service quality. Based on the results of the empirical results, a new dimension was hypothesized. The second part deals with the gap in the literature and conceptual framework. The third part of the article describes the material and method that describes the respondents and instrument adopted in the validity of the new investigated dimension. Finally, the result of the factor analysis shows the significant service quality statements that validate explanation as a reliable dimension of service quality in healthcare. A 10-item questionnaire and service statements to test the validity of explanation was administered to respondents who are the outpatients of the eight hospitals sampled in the province of Umuahia and Aba metropolis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]